DR. NANCY GEMMELL (MATHERS)

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DR. NANCY GEMMELL (nee MATHERS) Unexpectedly on January 12, 2008, in Courtenay, BC, beloved mother of Lyn, Jack and Janet and grandmother of Carly, Cassandra, Matthew, Neil and Renita. Nancy was born on October 12, 1924, in Winnipeg, MB, the daughter of Frank and Jean Mathers (née Bell) and the granddaughter of Thomas Mathers, Chief Justice of Manitoba. Nancy attended Kelvin High School and went on to medical school at the University of Manitoba from which she graduated in 1948. In 1949, she married Dr. John P. Gemmell, who went on to have a distinguished career both as a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Manitoba and as Head of the Department and Physician-in-Chief at the Winnipeg General Hospital. Together they had three children. Nancy was admitted to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1950 but in the early years devoted most of her time to raising her young family. In the 1960s she returned to the practice of medicine and eventually began working as a school doctor in Winnipeg's inner city schools, including R.B. Russell Vocational School, providing critically needed primary healthcare to the many students who came to her office over the years. It was a cause to which she devoted her considerable talents and caring heart. In 1979 she and John separated and subsequently divorced. In 1997, now retired, Nancy moved from Winnipeg to Courtenay on Vancouver Island, where her daughter Janet and her husband Jim lived with their two children. She will always be remembered as a loving mother, a skilled physician, an avid bridge-player and an independent thinker who marched to her own drumbeat. She was a generous soul who provided help to others in need. Nancy was predeceased by her former husband John and by her two brothers, Tom and Bill. She is survived by her children, Lyn, Jack and Janet, and their spouses, Peter Hogan, Katherine McLeod and Jim Palmer, her grandchildren, Carly, Cassandra, Matthew, Neil and Renita, her sister-in-law, Hélène Mathers, and her nieces and nephews, Mimi, Guy, Heather, Frank, Chris and Paul Mathers. She will be missed by all of them. A service to celebrate her life will take place on Saturday, February 2 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Sandpiper Room at the Kingfisher Resort, 4330 Island Highway South, Courtenay, BC. Condolences and reminiscences may be sent to nancy gemmell@rogers.com and photos of her life are available for viewing at http://picasaweb.google.ca/jack.m.gemmell/Nancy. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Medicine with a Difference Campaign at the Faculty of Medicine University of Manitoba would be much appreciated. Contributions may be made online through the Faculty of Medicine website (http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/medicine) or by contacting the Development Advancement Services, 179 Extended Education Complex University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Toll Free: 1-800-330-8066.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 26, 2008